Georgia @ Florida preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 2, 2019 ) Georgia 61, Florida 55

Anthony Edwards has struggled with his outside shooting at times during his first season at Georgia, but the Bulldogs freshman guard heads into Wednesday’s contest at Florida following two impressive performances. The reigning SEC freshman of the week recorded his first two double-doubles last week, scoring 23 points with 10 rebounds in a loss at Missouri before carrying Georgia past Texas A&M with 29 points on 10-for-21 shooting and 15 rebounds.

Edwards entered Tuesday as the nation’s leading freshman scorer at 19.3 points, and while the 6-5 guard is shooting just 40.8 percent from the field, he remains the key cog for a Georgia team looking for a strong finish to SEC play after losing six of eight league games. “As I said to him near the end of the game, it’s all got to turn up now that we’re into February,” Georgia coach Tom Crean told reporters after Saturday’s 63-48 victory. The Gators earned a much-needed victory Saturday at Vanderbilt, ending a three-game skid with a 61-55 triumph while overcoming 34.5 percent shooting from the field in the first half as sophomore forward Keyontae Johnson scored 20 points. “We just played with the energy and effort that it takes to win on the road in this league,” Florida coach Mike White told the media. “Obviously, it wasn’t our best offensive effort, but credit Vandy.”

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: ESPNU

ABOUT GEORGIA (12-9, 2-6 SEC): Edwards became the first Georgia freshman since 1997-98 to register consecutive double-doubles, and his 10 games of 20-plus points is tied for the conference lead. Junior forward/center Rayshaun Hammonds is second on the roster in scoring at 12.5 points and the leading rebounder at 7.6, but has averaged just four points and four rebounds across his past three games. Freshman point guard Sahvir Wheeler is averaging 10 points across his past two games after averaging 4.2 points in his previous five games.

ABOUT FLORIDA (13-8, 5-3): Leading scorer Kerry Blackshear Jr. finished with just six points on 2-for-9 shooting Saturday, but the Virginia Tech transfer forward averages 14 points and 8.3 rebounds with six 20-plus outputs this season. Johnson averages 13.3 points – 16.5 points across his past four games – on 53.7 percent shooting from the field after going 7-for-11 from the field and 2-for-3 from 3-point range Saturday. Sophomore guard Noah Locke, who was 2-for-9 from 3-point range in his previous two games, finished 5-for-8 from long range against Vanderbilt while scoring 17 points.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Gators lead the SEC in fewest turnovers per game at 11.7, and committed just seven in two of their past three games.

2. Edwards is 17 points shy of moving into fifth place on Georgia’s all-time freshman scoring list.

3. Georgia has won in its past two trips to Florida and three of the past four meetings overall in the series.

PREDICTION: Florida 74, Georgia 67